Televison, Beauty and Potato Chips

Recently, in class, we watched Frontline's video The Merchants of Cool and it documented how the media and advertising business is creating a culture with the teens they are targeting. Media, media, media. A small word that covers a ginormous range of technology and objects. It's everywhere in our life and ever since I can remember, I have been surfing along the waves of media. One of the earliest waves I've caught in this sea of media, is television.

They're supposed to be in high school... obviously.

From Dora the Explorer to Pretty Little Liars, T.V. shows have always been a major part of my life and entertainment. They not only shape who I am and who I've become, but according to The Merchants of Cool, I also help to shape what they show. It's a constant cycle of "cool." Yet, this cool has a price. That price is our lives, power and independence.

Shows targeted towards teens such as Pretty Little Liars or Teen Wolf all revolve around the life of 'high schoolers.' The actors and actresses who are supposed to be playing 16 years old's are actually in their 20's. How does that make teenagers feel? We see those mature and full grown people portraying high school kids and we believe that that's the standard of beauty and cool. Seriously? How are we supposed to compare to people who are fully grown and developed? We see that and believe that we are not beautiful or important unless we look like them.

Most of the boys and girls in T.V. shows are the image of society's so-called 'beauty.' Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful and awesome, but so is everybody else in this world. So what if you see a skinny, long haired, blue eyed actress on T.V. screen? Does that mean you have to look exactly like them? No it doesn't. These actors and actresses put so much pressure on our generation. They are all 'perfect' and we're at home sitting on the couch, eating potato chips and watching them on the screen. So what? Go ahead and keep eating those chips. You don't need a screen to tell you who you're supposed to be.

Wouldn't you love to have their life when your older?

The shows that portray adult's lives also show stereotypical people. They lives are filled with drama and happy endings. Again, we see these shows and believe that our lives should be like that one day. This reality assumption that our lives should have a happy ending and that our bodies should look like an hourglass has taken over our generation and society. This distorted image is putting pressure on all of us and telling each individual that we are not beautiful and we cannot be successful until we look and have the same lives as those we see on T.V.

At the end of the day, T.V. is a great way to pass the time and to release some stress. Yet, it's delivering an indirect message of how our society should be and what we should look like. It's causing us pressure and we are paying the price of our lives to become 'beautiful' and 'cool. How do you feel about this? Do you believe that shows are indirectly portraying this, or am I just crazy?

I hope you have a nice day and go ahead and keep eating those chips. You don't need a screen to tell you who to be.